Very Similar to Mine
If you've read and enjoyed Mine (by this author), you would probably enjoy this as well. I found both books to be quite similar, especially where the main male characters are concerned.
First, we have Mateo "Matt" Lopez. Matt developed some very definite (read: negative, homophobic) feelings toward gay men when his father came out. Matt blamed his father's being gay for the dissolution of their family, resulting in his mother "running away" and the destruction of their father/son relationship.
Do I need to even say that Matt's entire way of seeing his family situation was rooted in ignorance and pain on his part? I didn't think so.
Next, we have Eugene "Johnny" Johnson. He and Matt have been best friends since forever. Johnny was an "oops" baby, born the last in a big family. As such, he was often ignored in his family growing up, so Matt's family became his surrogate. Even though they grew up as close as brothers, there was something that Johnny kept from his best friend--especially after Matt's dad came out--Johnny is bi. Not only that, but Johnny has had a thing for Matt for... forever. So far, the fact that they live and work together hasn't been an issue...even if other people wonder at their closeness.
Lastly, we have Eden Evans. Eden is an only child, raised by her Aunt Maria (her father's sister) when both of her parents were killed in a car accident. With Maria being in the Navy, Eden never really had roots... but she never thought she'd need them, either. Eden was convinced that the women in her mother's family were cursed, as none of them lived past the age of 24. Eden was also convinced that this was her inescapable fate, so she created a Bucket List when she was a teenager--100 things to do before she turned 25/died. It's because of her Bucket List that she meets firefighters Matt and Johnny.
Though Matt hadn't been raised with homophobic ideals (like the character in Mine), he was still that sort of "manly man" with anti-gay thinking and it was enjoyable to watch him wrestle with the challenges of what he thought he knew and felt when faced with, not only the truth of his bigotry, but his changing feelings toward his best friend.
And even if the people around him could be OK with two men openly being in a relationship, it's an entirely different ballgame when both of those men are also in love with a woman, Eden, and she's in love with both of them. The reactions they initially got were...let's just say not positive... the most intense reaction coming from an unexpected place.
Johnny was my absolute favorite! He was so funny and real... I just loved him! Johnny probably gets 3 or 4 of those stars by himself; Matt's struggles earn 2.5 maybe 3 stars...
There's another MMF romance by this author that I kind of wanted to read, but if it's going to follow this same formula (two guys who are best friends, one is bi, the other is straight and homophobic; add a woman to complete the triad), then I think I'm going to pass.